Mr Edwards Babysits
by Dr. Michaela Quinn
Summary: With Charles and Caroline off to help try to take care of Caroline's sister, that leaves Mr. Edwards in charge of Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace.
1. Mr Edwards is Asked to Babysit

**A/N: I would like to thank LuvLittleJoe234 for her idea for this story. I dedicate it to her. I am so sorry that it took me a REALLY REALLY long time to write this and get it onto fanfiction, but I did write it for you; so I hope you feel a little better about it.**

I just moved back to Walnut Grove, Minnesota a few years ago. I had known a man named Charles Ingalls, his wife Caroline, and their children Mary, Laura Carrie, and Grace. I've spent a lot of time with them over the years. The last few weeks have been no exception. Last week I went over to see them, and I heard Mrs. Ingalls tell Charles that her sister hadn't been doin' too good lately. She's in some kind of trouble, but I'm not much of the kind that snoops, so I don't know what kind of trouble. I do know they said they needed somebody to watch the young'uns. One day when I was over at the Ingalls place, Charles asked me the question that I think could have changed my life.

"Hey Edwards, Caroline and I are looking for somebody who can take care of the children. Do you think you could stay here and watch them?" Charles asked me from across their kitchen table. I saw Laura sittin' up at the railing of the loft looking down at me.

"Sure! I would love to watch them for you. How long do you think you're going to be gone?" I asked.

"Not very long. Caroline's sister is having some issues; we are going to take the next stage out if you will stay here." Charles responded.

"That's no problem at all Ingalls." I exclaimed. Mary walked down the ladder and over to Charles.

"Pa, I don't need somebody to watch us. I can make sure that Carrie and Laura get to school on time." Mary said. Charles smiled.

"I appreciate the thought darlin', but who would watch Grace while all you girls were in school?" Charles asked.

"I could stay home with her!" Laura hollered down the ladder. Charles looked up at the loft.

"Absolutely not half-pint. You have to go to school so you can learn." Charles replied. I looked over at Mary.

"I promise you Mary that it won't be that difficult puttin' up with me while your Ma and Pa are away." I said. Mary looked at me and smiled.

"I know that Mr. Edwards, I would just hate for you to have to stay here. It will be an inconvenience." Mary stated.

"No, what the inconvenience would be is if you couldn't go to school and learn. Miss Beadle is a fine teacher." Charles replied. Mary looked back over at him.

"I know Pa; I want to be just like her." Mary said with a smile. Charles touched her shoulder with his hand.

"That's why you need to go to school, so you can be like Miss Beadle." Charles responded.

"Oh alright." Mary said. She looked at me again. "Thank you Mr. Edwards; I didn't want you to think that I didn't want you here. It's just I didn't want you to be inconvenienced by us is all."

"It's not an inconvenience. I would be happy to watch Grace for you girls while you're out there studyin' to be smart." I exclaimed. That got a smile out of Mary. She took her glasses off and hugged Charles.

"Good night Pa. Good night Mr. Edwards." She said.

"Good night darlin'." Charles responded.

"Good night Mary, half pint." I stated.

"Good night Mr. Edwards! Good night Pa!" Laura hollered from in the loft. Charles laughed. A few minutes later Caroline came inside the house.

"Good news Caroline." Charles said as soon as she walked in the door. She was carrying a bucket of water.

"What Charles?" Caroline asked him. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"We can go see your sister. I got somebody to watch the girls." He said. A smile spread across Caroline's face.

"Really? We get to go see her? I haven't seen my sister since we left the Big Woods!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Well we can go. Get a good night's rest and we will be out on the first stage tomorrow morning." Charles said.

"Oh Charles, that's wonderful! Who did you get to watch the girls?" Caroline asked. I was careful about it, but I stood up and coughed. Caroline looked at me, back at Charles and then looked at me again.

"I know that I may not look like the best person to take care of your girls ma'am, but it's just for a few days." I said. Caroline nodded.

"Alright, this works out perfectly. Thank you for being willing to help Mr. Edwards." Caroline said and then walked into the kitchen with her bucket of water. So that's how I ended up watching those Ingalls girls. Just as he promised, the next morning Charles and Caroline were on the first stage ready to go off towards the Big Woods where Caroline's sister lived. It wasn't very difficult for me to wake up the next day. It was more difficult waking up Carrie and Laura. Mary got up without any trouble or much prodding from me. But eventually they were up and ad 'em which left the day for just me and Gracie. What could really go wrong there? She's not even six months old.


	2. Screaming Grace

**A/N: This is starting to be my trademark (long story) but I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to write another chapter. I have a lot of stories going and most of my other category readers have to wait as long as you have. Some even longer. **

"Grace, please don't cry." I said as Grace wailed. She'd been crying since Mary and Laura left for school that morning. Carrie was sitting on Charles and Caroline's bed covering her ears with her hands. I picked up Grace. "Stop it Grace. Quit crying." Grace continued. I put Grace back down in her chair and walked over to Carrie.

"Make her stop." Carrie said. I sat down on the bed next to her.

"I can't make her stop. I've tried but she won't." I replied. Carrie looked at me.

"Maybe she's hungry! Ma is always able to make her stop." Carrie stated. I looked at Carrie.

"Carrie, I'm different than your Ma. I don't have the food supply that Grace needs." I replied. Carrie looked up at me.

"What do you mean?" Carrie asked. This was not the time and I was not the person to explain that to Carrie. I sighed.

"I don't know what to give to Grace to make her feel better." I said.

"Why don't you try to change her? Ma does that sometimes when she cries." Carrie stated. Then the lightbulb went off in my head. That's a great idea, why didn't I think of that? I put Grace down on Charles and Caroline's bed and went off in search of diapers. I found some cloth things that looked like diapers. I took off Grace's dress and immediately got hit with a stench.

"Yeah, she's got a dirty diaper Carrie." I exclaimed and hollered over Grace's cries. After I worked on figuring out how to get the old diaper off and the new one on, finally Grace quit crying and Carrie came out of her hiding spot.

"You're really not like my Ma are you?" Carrie asked. I laughed.

"Unfortunately no Carrie. I'm not like your Ma." Carrie sat in the chair across the table from me. "When does Grace go down for her nap?"

"Well usually Ma puts her back down shortly after Mary and Laura leave because she gets up so early in the morning." Carrie stated. I looked at Grace.

"Well Grace, why didn't you tell me that? That's why you're so cranky right now. Tired as a doornail." I laughed. "Well we'll go down for a nap now and then maybe you'll feel better in a few hours." I put Grace in her bed and she fell fast asleep. Carrie and I climbed into Charles and Caroline's bed to take a short nap with Grace.

[

It must have been several hours that I slept because when I woke up I heard noise coming from the other room.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"Oh it's just us Mr. Edwards." I heard Laura say. I stood up and walked into the other room.

"What are you doing home from school so early?" I asked. Laura looked at me rather funny.

"It's not early. This is the time that Miss Beadle usually lets us out at." Laura replied. I looked at Mary. She was feeding baby Grace.

"I could not get her to eat earlier for anything." I said. Mary smiled at me.

"I think I know why. You didn't feed her the right way." Mary replied. She looked back at Grace. Ma and Pa feed her only one way and that's what she's used to."

"Used to? She's six months old. What could she possibly be used to by now?" I asked. Mary and Laura both chuckled at that question.

"I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday Mr. Edwards because I'll be home to help you with Grace and Carrie." Mary said.

"Not me! I'm going fishing!" Laura hollered out. Mary glared at her.

"You are going to be here with me after school. Ma didn't say you could go fishing before she left. She said you had to come back here with me after school." Mary said firmly.

"Aww Mary." Laura said.

"It's okay Mary. Laura can go fishing with her friends if she wants. I remember what it was like to be her age. Fishing is exciting and fun." I replied and Laura nodded and stuck her tongue out at Mary.

"Laura Ingalls! I can't believe you'd do that! Next time you do that I'm gonna grab your tongue hard and pull it right out of your mouth!" Mary exclaimed.

"Well girls, it's decided. What do you guys want for dinner?" I asked. Mary looked at me.

"I can make dinner Mr. Edwards; just let me finish feeding Grace first." Mary said with a smile.


	3. Returning

The next morning, Mary was feeding Grace when Mr. Edwards woke up.

"What are you doing Mary?"

"I thought I'd help you with Grace today. Ma's not here and Grace can eat for me. She won't cry when I hold her." He nodded.

"You can now, but you have to leave for school."

"I'll stay here today. I don't think I'll miss much. Laura can tell me what Miss Beadle said and tell me about my assignments." He shook his head.

'No, you want to be a teacher. You need to be in school today." Mary took the bottle from Grace.

"Are you sure?"

"Let me have that baby." He took Grace from Mary. "Now go on up there and get dressed. See if Laura's still sleeping."

"I'm awake Mr. Edwards." Laura's voice squeaked from up in the loft.

"Come on down. You girls need to be going to school."

"Yes sir." Mary went up the ladder.

* * *

><p>When the girls got home from school, Ma and Pa were there with Mr. Edwards.<p>

"Ma!" Laura rushed over and hugged Caroline. "I'm glad you're back Ma. Hi Pa." Charles hugged her.

"We're glad to see you all safe and sound." Charles said.

"Mr. Edwards took really good care of us ma." Laura exclaimed.

"I can see that." She smiled.

"I want him to be with us every day." She said and everybody looked at him.

"I'll let your Pa and Pa take care of you Laura."

"Aww."

"Don't you want us around half-pint?" Laura hugged Charles.

"I do Pa, but I like Mr. Edwards too." Caroline nodded.

"Thank you for being here Mr. Edwards." Caroline said.

"You're welcome Mrs. Ingalls. I'll let you be here. I'll see you late. Bye Laura. Thank Mary, for everything you've done."

"You're welcome." She nodded. He rubbed the top of Laura's head and walked out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this was incredibly short, but I wanted to find a way to end this story. It's been a really long time since it was worked on. **


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